aberrant: Markedly different from an accepted norm.

argot: A specialized vocabulary peculiar to a

aberration: Deviation from a right, customary, or particular group.
prescribed course. arrant: Notoriously bad.
abet: To aid, promote, or encourage the ascetic: Given to severe self-denial and practicing
commission of (an offense). excessive abstinence and devotion.
abeyance: A state of suspension or temporary inaction. ascribe: To assign as a quality or attribute.
abjure: To recant, renounce, repudiate under oath. asperity: Harshness or roughness of temper.
ablution: A washing or cleansing, especially of the assiduous: Unceasing; persistent
body. assuage: To cause to be less harsh, violent, or severe,
abrogate: To abolish, repeal. as excitement, appetite, pain, or disease.
abscond: To depart suddenly and secretly, as for the astringent: Harsh in disposition or character.
purpose of escaping arrest. astute: Keen in discernment.
abstemious: Characterized by self denial or abstinence, atonement: Amends, reparation, or expiation made from
as in the use of drink, food. wrong or injury.
abstruse: Dealing with matters difficult to be audacious: Fearless.
understood. augury: Omen
abut: To touch at the end or boundary line. auspicious: Favorable omen
accede: To agree. austere: Severely simple; unadorned.
acquiesce: To comply; submit. autocrat: Any one who claims or wields unrestricted or
acrid: Harshly pungent or bitter. undisputed authority or influence.
acumen: Quickness of intellectual insight, or auxiliary: One who or that which aids or helps,
discernment; keenness of discrimination. especially when regarded as subsidiary or
adage: An old saying. accessory.
adamant: Any substance of exceeding hardness or avarice: Passion for getting and keeping riches.
impenetrability. aver: To avouch, justify or prove
admonition: Gentle reproof. aversion: A mental condition of fixed opposition to or
adumbrate: To represent beforehand in outline or by dislike of some particular thing.
emblem. avow: To declare openly.
affable: Easy to approach. baleful: Malignant.
aggrandize: To cause to appear greatly. banal: Commonplace.
aggravate: To make heavier, worse, or more bask: To make warm by genial heat.
burdensome. beatify: To make supremely happy.
agile: Able to move or act quickly, physically, or bedaub: To smear over, as with something oily or
mentally. sticky.
agog: In eager desire. bellicose: Warlike.
alacrity: Cheerful willingness. belligerent: Manifesting a warlike spirit.
alcove: A covered recess connected with or at the benefactor: A doer of kindly and charitable acts.
side of a larger room. benevolence: Any act of kindness or well-doing.
alleviate: To make less burdensome or less hard to benign: Good and kind of heart.
bear. berate: To scold severely.
aloof: Not in sympathy with or desiring to associate bewilder: To confuse the perceptions or judgment of.
with others. blandishment: Flattery intended to persuade.
amalgamate: To mix or blend together in a homogeneous blatant: Noisily or offensively loud or clamorous.
body. blithe: Joyous.
ambidextrous: Having the ability of using both hands with boisterous: Unchecked merriment or animal spirits.
equal skill or ease. bolster: To support, as something wrong.
ambiguous: Having a double meaning. bombast: Inflated or extravagant language, especially
ameliorate: To relieve, as from pain or hardship on unimportant subjects.
anathema: Anything forbidden, as by social usage. boorish: Rude.
animadversion: The utterance of criticism or censure. breach: The violation of official duty, lawful right, or a
animosity: Hatred. legal obligation.
antediluvian: Of or pertaining to the times, things, events brittle: Fragile.
before the great flood in the days of Noah. broach: To mention, for the first time.
antidote: Anything that will counteract or remove the bumptious: Full of offensive and aggressive self-conceit.
effects of poison, disease, or the like. buoyant: Having the power or tendency to float or
aplomb: Confidence; coolness. keep afloat.
apocryphal : Of doubtful authority or authenticity. burnish: To make brilliant or shining.
apogee: The climax. cabal: A number of persons secretly united for
apostate: False. effecting by intrigue some private purpose.
apotheosis: Deification. cacophony: A disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound
apparition: Ghost. or combination of sounds or tones.
appease: To soothe by quieting anger or indignation. cajole: To impose on or dupe by flattering speech.
apposite: Appropriate. callow: Without experience of the world.
apprise: To give notice to; to inform. calumny: Slander.
approbation: Sanction. candid: Straightforward.
arboreal: Of or pertaining to a tree or trees. cant: To talk in a singsong, preaching tone with
ardor: Intensity of passion or affection. affected solemnity.
capacious: Roomy.
capitulate: To surrender or stipulate terms. cupidity: Avarice.
captious: Hypercritical. cursory: Rapid and superficial.
castigate: To punish. curtail: To cut off or cut short.
cataract: Opacity of the lens of the eye resulting in cynosure: That to which general interest or attention is
complete or partial blindness. directed.
caustic: Sarcastic and severe. dearth: Scarcity, as of something customary,
censure: To criticize severely; also, an expression of essential,or desirable.
disapproval. defer: To delay or put off to some other time.
centurion: A captain of a company of one hundred deign: To deem worthy of notice or account.
infantry in the ancient Roman army. deleterious: Hurtful, morally or physically.
chagrin: Keen vexation, annoyance, or mortification, delineate: To represent by sketch or diagram.
as at one's failures or errors. deluge: To overwhelm with a flood of water.
chary: Careful; wary; cautious. demagogue: An unprincipled politician.
chicanery: The use of trickery to deceive. denizen: Inhabitant.
circumlocution: Indirect or roundabout expression. denouement: That part of a play or story in which the
coddle: To treat as a baby or an invalid. mystery is cleared up.
coerce: To force. deplete: To reduce or lessen, as by use, exhaustion,
coeval: Existing during the same period of time; also, or waste.
a contemporary. deposition: Testimony legally taken on interrogatories
cogent: Appealing strongly to the reason or and reduced to writing, for use as evidence
conscience. in court.
cogitate: Consider carefully and deeply; ponder. deprave: To render bad, especially morally bad.
cognizant: Taking notice. deprecate: To express disapproval or regret for, with
colloquial: Pertaining or peculiar to common speech as hope for the opposite.
distinguished from literary. deride: To ridicule.
collusion: A secret agreement for a wrongful purpose. derision: Ridicule.
comestible: Fit to be eaten. derivative: Coming or acquired from some origin.
commemorate: To serve as a remembrance of. descry: To discern.
complaisance: Politeness. desiccant: Any remedy which, when applied externally,
complement: To make complete. dries up or absorbs moisture, as that of
comport: To conduct or behave (oneself). wounds.
compunction: Remorseful feeling. desuetude: A state of disuse or inactivity.
conceit: Self-flattering opinion. desultory: Not connected with what precedes.
conciliatory: Tending to reconcile. deter: To frighten away.
concord: Harmony. dexterity: Readiness, precision, efficiency, and ease in
concur: To agree. any physical activity or in any mechanical
condense: To abridge. work.
conflagration: A great fire, as of many buildings, a forest, or diaphanous: Transparent.
the like. diatribe: A bitter or malicious criticism.
confluence: The place where streams meet. didactic: Pertaining to teaching.
congeal: To coagulate. diffidence: Self-distrust.
conjoin: To unite. diffident: Affected or possessed with self-distrust.
connoisseur: A critical judge of art, especially one with dilate: To enlarge in all directions.
thorough knowledge and sound judgment of dilatory: Tending to cause delay.
art. disallow: To withhold permission or sanction.
console: To comfort. discomfit: To put to confusion.
conspicuous: Clearly visible. disconcert: To disturb the composure of.
consternation: Panic. disconsolate : Hopelessly sad; also, saddening; cheerless.
constrict: To bind. discountenance: To look upon with disfavor.
consummate: To bring to completion. discredit: To injure the reputation of.
contiguous: Touching or joining at the edge or boundary. discreet: Judicious.
contrite: Broken in spirit because of a sense of sin. disheveled: Disordered; disorderly; untidy.
contumacious: Rebellious. dissemble: To hide by pretending something different.
copious: Plenteous. disseminate: To sow or scatter abroad, as seed is sown.
cornucopia: The horn of plenty, symbolizing peace and dissent: Disagreement.
prosperity. dissolution: A breaking up of a union of persons.
corporeal: Of a material nature; physical. distraught: Bewildered.
correlate: To put in some relation of connection or divulge: To tell or make known, as something
correspondence. previously private or secret.
corroboration: Confirmation. dogmatic: Making statements without argument or
counterfeit: Made to resemble something else. evidence.
countervail: To offset. dormant: Being in a state of or resembling sleep.
covert: Concealed, especially for an evil purpose. dubious: Doubtful.
cower: To crouch down tremblingly, as through fear duplicity: Double-dealing.
or shame. earthenware: Anything made of clay and baked in a kiln or
crass: Coarse or thick in nature or structure, as dried in the sun.
opposed to thin or fine. ebullient: Showing enthusiasm or exhilaration of
credulous: Easily deceived. feeling.
edacious: Given to eating. expedient: Contributing to personal advantage.
edible: Suitable to be eaten. expiate: To make satisfaction or amends for.
educe: To draw out. explicate: To clear from involvement.
effete: Exhausted, as having performed its expostulate: To discuss.
functions. expropriate: To deprive of possession; also, to transfer
efficacy: The power to produce an intended effect as (another's property) to oneself.
shown in the production of it. extant: Still existing and known.
effrontery: Unblushing impudence. extempore: Without studied or special preparation.
effulgence: Splendor. extenuate: To diminish the gravity or importance of.
egregious: Extreme. extinct: Being no longer in existence.
egress: Any place of exit. extinguish: To render extinct.
elegy: A lyric poem lamenting the dead. extirpate: To root out; to eradicate.
elicit: To educe or extract gradually or without extol: To praise in the highest terms.
violence. extort: To obtain by violence, threats, compulsion,
elucidate: To bring out more clearly the facts or the subjection of another to some
concerning. necessity.
emaciate: To waste away in flesh. extraneous: Having no essential relation to a subject.
embellish: To make beautiful or elegant by adding exuberance: Rich supply.
attractive or ornamental features. facetious: Amusing.
embezzle: To misappropriate secretly. facile: Not difficult to do.
emblazon: To set forth publicly or in glowing terms. factious: Turbulent.
encomium: A formal or discriminating expression of fallacious: Illogical.
praise. fatuous: Idiotic
encumbrance: A burdensome and troublesome load. fawn: A young deer.
endemic: Peculiar to some specified country or people. feint: Any sham, pretense, or deceptive
enervate: To render ineffective or inoperative. movement.
engender: To produce. felon: A criminal or depraved person.
engrave: To cut or carve in or upon some surface. ferocity: Savageness.
enigma: A riddle. fervid: Intense.
enmity: Hatred. fervor: Ardor or intensity of feeling.
entangle: To involve in difficulties, confusion, or fidelity: Loyalty.
complications. finesse: Subtle contrivance used to gain a point.
entreat: To ask for or request earnestly. flamboyant: Characterized by extravagance and in
Epicurean: Indulging, ministering, or pertaining to general by want of good taste.
daintiness of appetite. flippant: Having a light, pert, trifling disposition.
epithet: Word used adjectivally to describe some florid: Flushed with red.
quality or attribute of is objects, as in "Father flout: To treat with contempt.
Aeneas". foible: A personal weakness or failing.
epitome: A simplified representation. foment: To nurse to life or activity; to encourage.
equable: Equal and uniform; also, serene. foppish: Characteristic of one who is unduly devoted
equanimity: Evenness of mind or temper. to dress and the niceties of manners.
equanimity : Calmness; composure. forbearance: Patient endurance or toleration of offenses.
equilibrium: A state of balance. forfeit: To lose possession of through failure to fulfill
equivocal: Ambiguous. some obligation.
equivocate: To use words of double meaning. forgery: Counterfeiting.
eradicate: To destroy thoroughly. forswear: To renounce upon oath.
errant: Roving or wandering, as in search of fragile: Easily broken.
adventure or opportunity for gallant deeds. frantic: Frenzied.
erratic: Irregular. frugal: Economical.
erroneous: Incorrect. fugacious: Fleeting.
erudite: Very-learned. fulminate: To cause to explode.
eschew: To keep clear of. fulsome: Offensive from excess of praise or
espy: To keep close watch. commendation.
eulogy: A spoken or written laudation of a person's gainsay: To contradict; to deny.
life or character. gamut: The whole range or sequence.
euphonious: Characterized by agreeableness of sound. garrulous: Given to constant trivial talking.
evanescent: Fleeting. germane: Relevant.
evince: To make manifest or evident. gesticulate: To make gestures or motions, as in
evoke: To call or summon forth. speaking, or in place of speech.
exacerbate: To make more sharp, severe, or virulent. glimmer: A faint, wavering, unsteady light.
exculpate: To relieve of blame. gossamer: Flimsy.
exhaustive: Thorough and complete in execution. gourmand: A connoisseur in the delicacies of the table.
exigency: A critical period or condition. grandiloquent: Speaking in or characterized by a pompous or
exigency : State of requiring immediate action; also, an bombastic style.
urgent situation; also, that which is required gregarious: Sociable, outgoing
in a grievous: Creating affliction.
exorbitant: Going beyond usual and proper limits. guile: Duplicity.
expatiate: To speak or write at some length. gullible: Credulous.
halcyon: Calm. indulgent: Yielding to the desires or humor of oneself or
harangue: A tirade. those under one's care.
harbinger: One who or that which foreruns and ineffable: Unutterable.
announces the coming of any person or ineluctable: Impossible to avoid.
thing. inept: Not fit or suitable.
head: Adv. Precipitately, as in diving. inexorable: Unrelenting.
heinous: Odiously sinful. infuse: To instill, introduce, or inculcate, as
heresy: An opinion or doctrine subversive of settled principles or qualities.
beliefs or accepted principles. ingenuous: Candid, frank, or open in character or
heterogeneous: Consisting of dissimilar elements or quality.
ingredients of different kinds. inimical: Adverse.
hirsute: Having a hairy covering. innocuous: Harmless.
hoodwink: To deceive. inscrutable: Impenetrably mysterious or profound.
hospitable: Disposed to treat strangers or guests with insensible: Imperceptible.
generous kindness. insinuate: To imply.
hypocrisy: Extreme insincerity. insipid: Tasteless.
iconoclast: An image-breaker. insouciant: Nonchalant.
idiosyncrasy: A mental quality or habit peculiar to an insurrection: The state of being in active resistance to
individual. authority.
ignoble: Low in character or purpose. interdict: Authoritative act of prohibition.
ignominious: Shameful. interim: Time between acts or periods.
illicit: Unlawful. intransigent: Not capable of being swayed or diverted
imbroglio: A misunderstanding attended by ill feeling, from a course.
perplexity, or strife. intrepid: Fearless and bold.
imbue : To dye; to instill profoundly. introspection: The act of observing and analyzing one's
immaculate: Without spot or blemish. own thoughts and feelings.
imminent: Dangerous and close at hand. inundate: To fill with an overflowing abundance.
immutable: Unchangeable. inure: To harden or toughen by use, exercise, or
impair: To cause to become less or worse. exposure.
impassive: Unmoved by or not exhibiting feeling. invalid: One who is disabled by illness or injury.
impecunious: Having no money. invective: An utterance intended to cast censure, or
impede: To be an obstacle or to place obstacles in reproach.
the way of. inveigh: To utter vehement censure or invective.
imperative: Obligatory. inveterate: Habitual.
imperious: Insisting on obedience. invidious: Showing or feeling envy.
imperturbable: Calm. invincible: Not to be conquered, subdued, or overcome.
impervious: Impenetrable. iota: A small or insignificant mark or part.
impetuous: Impulsive. irascible: Prone to anger.
impiety: Irreverence toward God. irate: Moved to anger.
implacable: Incapable of being pacified. ire: Wrath.
implicate: To show or prove to be involved in or irksome: Wearisome.
concerned itinerant: Wandering.
implicit: Implied. itinerate: To wander from place to place.
importunate: Urgent in character, request, or demand. jocular: Inclined to joke.
importune: To harass with persistent demands or jovial: Merry.
entreaties. judicious: Prudent.
impromptu: Anything done or said on the impulse of the junta: A council or assembly that deliberates in
moment. secret upon the affairs of government.
improvident: Lacking foresight or thrift. lachrymose: Given to shedding tears.
impugn: To assail with arguments, insinuations, or lackadaisical: Listless.
accusations. languid: Relaxed.
impute: To attribute. lascivious: Lustful.
inadvertent: Accidental. lassitude: Lack of vitality or energy.
inane: Silly. latent: Dormant.
incessant: Unceasing. laudable: Praiseworthy.
inchoate: Incipient. laudatory: Pertaining to, expressing, or containing
incipient: Initial. praise.
incite: To rouse to a particular action. legacy: A bequest.
incongruous: Unsuitable for the time, place, or occasion. levee: An embankment beside a river or stream or
inculcate: To teach by frequent repetitions. an arm of the sea, to prevent overflow.
indelible: That can not be blotted out, effaced, levity: Frivolity.
destroyed, or removed. lexicon: A dictionary.
indigence: Poverty. libel: Defamation.
indigenous: Native. licentious: Wanton.
indistinct: Vague. lien: A legal claim or hold on property, as security
indolence: Laziness. for a debt or charge.
indolent: Habitually inactive or idle. listless: Inattentive.
indomitable: Unconquerable. lithe: Supple.
loquacious: Talkative. odious: Hateful.
lugubrious: Indicating sorrow, often ridiculously. odium: A feeling of extreme repugnance, or of
luminary: One of the heavenly bodies as a source of dislike and disgust.
light. officious: Intermeddling with what is not one's concern.
lustrous: Shining. ominous: Portentous.
malaise: A condition of uneasiness or ill-being. onerous: Burdensome or oppressive.
malcontent: One who is dissatisfied with the existing onus: A burden or responsibility.
state of affairs. opprobrium: The state of being scornfully reproached or
malevolence: Ill will. accused of evil.
malign: To speak evil of, especially to do so falsely ossify: To convert into bone.
and severely. ostentation: A display dictated by vanity and intended to
malleable: Pliant. invite applause or flattery.
massacre: The unnecessary and indiscriminate killing of ostracism: Exclusion from intercourse or favor, as in
human beings. society or politics.
maudlin: Foolishly and tearfully affectionate. ostracize: To exclude from public or private favor.
mawkish: Sickening or insipid. palate: The roof of the mouth.
mellifluous: Sweetly or smoothly flowing. palatial: Magnificent.
mendacious: Untrue. palliate: To cause to appear less guilty.
mendicant: A beggar. palpable: Perceptible by feeling or touch.
meretricious: Alluring by false or gaudy show. panacea: A remedy or medicine proposed for or
mesmerize: To hypnotize. professing to cure all diseases.
meticulous: Over-cautious. panegyric: A formal and elaborate eulogy, written or
mettle: Courage. spoken, of a person or of an act.
mettlesome: Having courage or spirit. panoply: A full set of armor.
microcosm: The world or universe on a small scale. paragon: A model of excellence.
mien: The external appearance or manner of a Pariah: A member of a degraded class; a social
person. outcast.
mischievous: Fond of tricks. paroxysm: A sudden outburst of any kind of activity.
miscreant: A villain. parsimonious: Unduly sparing in the use or expenditure of
miser: A person given to saving and hoarding money.
unduly. partisan: Characterized by or exhibiting undue or
misnomer: A name wrongly or mistakenly applied. unreasoning devotion to a party.
moderation: Temperance. pathos: The quality in any form of representation that
modicum: A small or token amount. rouses emotion or sympathy.
mollify: To soothe. paucity: Fewness.
molt: To cast off, as hair, feathers, etc. peccadillo: A small breach of propriety or principle.
monomania: The unreasonable pursuit of one idea. pedestrian: One who journeys on foot.
morbid: Caused by or denoting a diseased or pellucid: Translucent.
unsound condition of body or mind. penchant: A bias in favor of something.
mordant: Biting. penurious: Excessively sparing in the use of money.
moribund: On the point of dying. penury: Indigence.
morose: Gloomy. peregrination: A wandering.
multifarious: Having great diversity or variety. peremptory: Precluding question or appeal.
mundane: Worldly, as opposed to spiritual or celestial. perfidy: Treachery.
munificent: Extraordinarily generous. perfunctory: Half-hearted.
myriad: A vast indefinite number. peripatetic: Walking about.
nadir: The lowest point. perjury: A solemn assertion of a falsity.
nefarious: Wicked in the extreme. permeate: To pervade.
negligent: Apt to omit what ought to be done. pernicious: Tending to kill or hurt.
neophyte: Having the character of a beginner. persiflage: Banter.
noisome: Very offensive, particularly to the sense of perspicacity: Acuteness or discernment.
smell. perturbation: Mental excitement or confusion.
nostrum: Any scheme or recipe of a charlatan petrify: To convert into a substance of stony
character. hardness and character.
noxious: Hurtful. petulant: Displaying impatience.
nugatory: Having no power or force. phlegmatic: Not easily roused to feeling or action.
obdurate: Impassive to feelings of humanity or pity. physiognomy: The external appearance merely.
obfuscate: To darken; to obscure. pious: Religious.
oblique: Slanting; said of lines. pique: To excite a slight degree of anger in.
obsequious: Showing a servile readiness to fall in with the placate: To bring from a state of angry or hostile
wishes or will of another. feeling to one of patience or friendliness.
obstreperous: Boisterous. platitude: A written or spoken statement that is flat,
obtrude: To be pushed or to push oneself into undue dull, or commonplace.
prominence. plea: An argument to obtain some desired action.
obtrusive: Tending to be pushed or to push oneself into plenary: Entire.
undue prominence. plethora: Excess; superabundance.
obviate: To clear away or provide for, as an objection plumb: A weight suspended by a line to test the
or difficulty. verticality of something.
plummet: A piece of lead for making soundings, rebuff: A peremptory or unexpected rejection of
adjusting walls to the vertical. advances or approaches.
poignant: Severely painful or acute to the spirit. recalcitrant: Marked by stubborn resistance.
polyglot: Speaking several tongues. recant: To withdraw formally one's belief (in
ponderous: Unusually weighty or forcible. something previously believed or
portend: To indicate as being about to happen, maintained).
especially by previous signs. reciprocity: Equal mutual rights and benefits granted and
portent: Anything that indicates what is to happen. enjoyed.
precarious: Perilous. recluse: One who lives in retirement or seclusion.
preclude: To prevent. recondite: Incomprehensible to one of ordinary
precocious: Having the mental faculties prematurely understanding.
developed. recrudescent: Becoming raw or sore again.
predominate: To be chief in importance, quantity, or recuperate: To recover.
degree. redoubtable: Formidable.
premature: Coming too soon. redress: To set right, as a wrong by compensation or
presage: To foretell. the punishment of the wrong-doer.
prescience: Knowledge of events before they take place. refractory: Not amenable to control.
presumption: That which may be logically assumed to be regale: To give unusual pleasure.
true until disproved. regicide: The killing of a king or sovereign.
preternatural: Extraordinary. reiterate: To say or do again and again.
prevalent: Of wide extent or frequent occurrence. relapse: To suffer a return of a disease after partial
prevaricate: To use ambiguous or evasive language for recovery.
the purpose of deceiving or diverting remonstrate: To present a verbal or written protest to
attention. those who have power to right or prevent a
prim: Stiffly proper. wrong.
pristine: Primitive. renovate: To restore after deterioration, as a building.
probity: Virtue or integrity tested and confirmed. repast: A meal; figuratively, any refreshment.
proclivity: A natural inclination. repel: To force or keep back in a manner,
procrastination: Delay. physically or mentally.
prodigal: One wasteful or extravagant, especially in repine: To indulge in fretfulness and faultfinding.
the use of money or property. reprobate: One abandoned to depravity and sin.
prodigious: Immense. repudiate: To refuse to have anything to do with.
profligacy: Shameless viciousness. repulsive: Grossly offensive.
profligate: Recklessly wasteful requisite: Necessary.
profuse: Produced or displayed in overabundance. requite: To repay either good or evil to, as to a
prolix: Verbose. person.
propinquity: Nearness. rescind: To make void, as an act, by the enacting
propitious: Kindly disposed. authority or a superior authority.
prosaic: Unimaginative. resilience: The power of springing back to a former
proscribe: To reject, as a teaching or a practice, with position
condemnation or denunciation. resonance: Able to reinforce sound by sympathetic
protuberant: Bulging. vibrations.
provident: Anticipating and making ready for future respite: Interval of rest.
wants or emergencies. restive: Resisting control.
prudence: Caution. retinue: The group of people who accompany an
puerile: Childish. important person during travels.
pugnacious: Quarrelsome. revere: To regard with worshipful veneration.
punctilious: Strictly observant of the rules or forms reverent: Humble.
prescribed by law or custom. ribald: Indulging in or manifesting coarse indecency
pungency: The quality of affecting the sense of smell. or obscenity.
pusillanimous: Without spirit or bravery. risible: Capable of exciting laughter.
pyre: A heap of combustibles arranged for burning rotund: Round from fullness or plumpness.
a dead body. ruffian: A lawless or recklessly brutal fellow.
qualm: A fit of nausea. ruminate: To chew over again, as food previously
quandary: A puzzling predicament. swallowed and regurgitated.
quibble: An utterly trivial distinction or objection. sagacious: Able to discern and distinguish with wise
quiescence: Being quiet, still, or at rest; inactive perception.
quiescent: Being in a state of repose or inaction. salacious: Having strong sexual desires.
Quixotic: Chivalrous or romantic to a ridiculous or salient: Standing out prominently.
extravagant degree. salubrious: Healthful; promoting health.
quotidian: Of an everyday character; ordinary. salutary: Beneficial.
raconteur: A person skilled in telling stories. sanction: To approve authoritatively.
ramify: To divide or subdivide into branches or sanguine: Cheerfully confident; optimistic.
subdivisions. sardonic: Scornfully or bitterly sarcastic.
rapacious: Seize by force, avaricious satiate: To satisfy fully the appetite or desire of.
raucous: Harsh. satyr: A very lascivious person.
reactionary: Pertaining to, of the nature of, causing, or savor: To perceive by taste or smell.
favoring reaction.
scabbard: The sheath of a sword or similar bladed transitory: Existing for a short time only.
weapon. travail: Hard or agonizing labor.
scintilla: The faintest ray. travesty: A grotesque imitation.
scribble: Hasty, careless writing. trenchant: Cutting deeply and quickly.
sedulous: Persevering in effort or endeavor. trepidation: Nervous uncertainty of feeling.
sequence: The order in which a number or persons, trite: Made commonplace by frequent repetition.
things, or events follow one another in space truculence: Ferocity.
or time. truculent: Having the character or the spirit of a
severance: Separation. savage.
shrewd: Characterized by skill at understanding and turbid: In a state of turmoil; muddled
profiting by circumstances. turgid: Swollen.
sinecure: Any position having emoluments with few or turpitude: Depravity.
no duties. tutelage: The act of training or the state of being under
sinuous: Curving in and out. instruction.
skiff: Usually, a small light boat propelled by oars. tyro: One slightly skilled in or acquainted with any
sluggard: A person habitually lazy or idle. trade or profession.
solace: Comfort in grief, trouble, or calamity. ubiquitous: Being present everywhere.
solvent: Having sufficient funds to pay all debts. ulterior: Not so pertinent as something else to the
somniferous: Tending to produce sleep. matter spoken of.
somnolent: Sleepy. umbrage: A sense of injury.
sonorous: Resonant. unctuous: Oily.
sophistry: Reasoning sound in appearance only, undermine: To subvert in an underhand way.
especially when designedly deceptive. undulate: To move like a wave or in waves.
soporific: Causing sleep; also, something that causes untoward: Causing annoyance or hindrance.
sleep. upbraid: To reproach as deserving blame.
sordid: Filthy, morally degraded vagary: A sudden desire or action
specious: Plausible. vainglory: Excessive, pretentious, and demonstrative
spurious: Not genuine. vanity.
squalid: Having a dirty, mean, poverty-stricken valorous: Courageous.
appearance. vapid: Having lost sparkling quality and flavor.
stanch: To stop the flowing of; to check. variegated: Having marks or patches of different colors;
stigma: A mark of infamy or token of disgrace also, varied.
attaching to a person as the result of evil- vehement: Very eager or urgent.
doing. venal: Mercenary, corrupt.
stingy: Cheap, unwilling to spend money. veneer: Outside show or elegance.
stolid: Expressing no power of feeling or perceiving. venial: That may be pardoned or forgiven, a
submerge: To place or plunge under water. forgivable sin.
subterfuge: Evasion. veracious: Habitually disposed to speak the truth.
succinct: Concise. veracity: Truthfulness.
sumptuous: Rich and costly. verbiage: Use of many words without necessity.
supercilious: Exhibiting haughty and careless contempt. verbose: Wordy.
superfluous: Being more than is needed. verdant: Green with vegetation.
supernumerary: Superfluous. veritable: Real; true; genuine.
supersede: To displace. vestige: A visible trace, mark, or impression, of
supine: Lying on the back. something absent, lost, or gone.
supplicate: To beg. vicissitude: A change, especially a complete change, of
suppress: To prevent from being disclosed or condition or circumstances, as of fortune.
punished. vigilance: Alert and intent mental watchfulness in
surcharge: An additional amount charged. guarding against danger.
surfeit: To feed to fullness or to satiety. vigilant: Being on the alert to discover and ward off
susceptibility: A specific capability of feeling or emotion. danger or insure safety.
sybarite: A luxurious person. virago: Loud talkative women, strong statured
sycophant: A servile flatterer, especially of those in women
authority or influence. virtu: Rare, curious, or beautiful quality.
synopsis: A syllabus or summary. visage: The face, countenance, or look of a person.
taciturn: Disinclined to conversation. vitiate: To contaminate.
taut: Stretched tight. vituperate: To overwhelm with wordy abuse.
temerity: Foolhardy disregard of danger; vivify: To endue with life.
recklessness. vociferous: Making a loud outcry.
terse: Pithy. volatile: Changeable.
timorous: Lacking courage. voluble: Having great fluency in speaking.
torpid: Dull; sluggish; inactive. wean: To transfer (the young) from dependence on
torrid: Excessively hot. mother's milk to another form of
tortuous: Abounding in irregular bends or turns. nourishment.
tractable: Easily led or controlled. whimsical: Capricious.
transgress: To break a law. winsome: Attractive.
transient: One who or that which is only of temporary Zeitgeist: The intellectual and moral tendencies that
existence. characterize any age or epoch.